Food intake, food accessibility and the home environment may be important variables to consider. Based on the consistency of results across study sites, global advocacy for policies supporting more walkable neighbourhoods should seek to optimize land-use-mix when designing and re-designing cities or towns.Although child mortality has declined in India, pronounced regional and socioeconomic inequality exists. The study examines the effects of individual- and community-level characteristics on under-five mortality and investigates the extent to which they affect regional variation. The study is based on Indian National Family and Health Survey 4, 2015-16 data. A two-level logistic regression model was performed to examine the effects of the socio-economic characteristics, and multivariate decomposition analysis was done to assess the contribution of factors in the inter-regional under-five mortality differentials. Regional variation in the selected variables is observed. For instance, the percentage of children with small childbirth size varied from 9.7% in the southern to 21.6% in the northeastern region. The percentage of poor households, low educated mothers, and childbirths delivered at home facility were higher in the central and eastern region compared to the southern region. The multilevel analysis shows that the region of residence explained 15.8% variance, and community-level characteristics alone could explain 25.3% variation in the risk of under-five deaths. The decomposition analysis indicates that the average number of excess deaths in the central and eastern regions is higher compared to the other regions. The compositional differences account for 50.9% of the under-five mortality gaps between the south and north region, 80.9% of the gap between the south and east, and 42.9% of the gap between the south and central region of India. Special attention and targeted action are needed to address the underlying causes of low birth weight of children in all the regions of India. Region-specific interventions might be priorities; for example, north, and central regions, need an economic and educational uplift, while infrastructural and economic policies should be prioritized for the northeastern region. Also, region-specific community-level interventions are needed to improve child survival in India.A growing body of research suggests that air pollution negatively affects specific health outcomes, but how long- and short-term exposure to air pollution are associated with frailty is unclear. Using longitudinal data from adults aged 65 and over from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) linked with air quality index data, we model a frailty score according to the city-level of air pollution exposure, adjusting for individual socio-demographic factors and city-level indicators. All models show increased frailty with higher exposure to air pollution in one year prior to the interview, when controlling for short-term fluctuations. Moreover, elderly people living in areas where air pollution increased over the follow-up had larger increases in frailty scores than those where air pollution was relatively constant. The results suggest that air pollution plays a role in healthy ageing.This study examined the effect of neighborhood investments on neighborhood walkability, presence of incivilities, and crime in two low-income, primarily African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, USA. During the study period, one of the neighborhoods (the intervention neighborhood) received substantially more publicly-funded investments than a demographically matched comparison neighborhood. Comparisons between the neighborhoods showed a significant difference-in-difference for all three outcomes. The intervention neighborhood experienced significantly more change related to improved walkability and decreased incivilities. https://www.selleckchem.com/MEK.html However, the control neighborhood experienced better crime-related outcomes. Analyses that focused on resident proximity to investments found similar results. This highlights the nuances of neighborhood investment, which is important to consider when thinking about public policy.There is scarce insight into the role of the built environment for children's subjective well-being. In an attempt to increase our knowledge on this matter, we conducted a cross-sectional study comprising 23,043 children from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Information about children's leisure activities and their moods and feelings were linked to geospatial data on green space, facilities and population density to assess whether these built characteristics are related to subjective well-being and if participating in leisure activities is a mediator in such relations. We found that children having a park and more playgrounds/sports fields in the neighborhood, as well as those living in more densely populated areas, had more depressive moods and negative feelings. However, participating in leisure-time physical activity, organized activities and social activity with friends mediated these relations and contributed to counterbalancing some of the negative associations observed. The findings suggest that planners and policy makers should focus on ensuring children have neighborhood resources and venues that could support engagement in leisure activities that add positive experiences for their subjective well-being.This study examines the impact of the Dutch District Approach, a major urban regeneration programme that was started in 2008 in the Netherlands, on social, physical and mental functioning of older adults. Data from 1092 participants (58-93 years at baseline) across two waves (2005/06 and 2011/12) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were linked to detailed data on exposure to the programme. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we assessed differences from pre-intervention to the intervention period between the target and control districts in loneliness, social engagement, social isolation, physical activity, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Regardless of programme intensity, the results indicate that the Dutch District Approach did not benefit or harm these aspects of functioning in older adults.